Deepseek Is Apparently Under Attack

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 28, 2025 by itnerd

Chinese AI startup Deepseek says it is temporarily limiting registrations due to large-scale malicious attacks on its services. Here’s a look at their status page which can be found at https://status.deepseek.com/:

Erich Kron, security awareness advocate at KnowBe4, commented:

“One of the key tenets of cybersecurity is availability. Combined with confidentiality and integrity of data, these make up what is known as the CIA triad. Although most people think of confidentiality and battling data breaches when it comes to cybersecurity, the lack of availability can be just as crippling to an organization if they are not able to provide the services they promise to their customers. With the popularity of DeepSeek growing, it’s not a big surprise that they are being targeted by malicious web traffic. These sorts of attacks could be a way to extort an organization by promising to stop attacks and restore availability for a fee, it could be rival organizations seeking to negatively impact the competition, or it could even be people who have invested in a competing organization and want to protect their investment by taking out the competition.

“The cybersecurity world has become global, with attacks originating from any continent on the planet and targeting any organization with a web presence. Unfortunately many counter moves, such as pausing new user registration to allow computing resources to be freed up for other services, can bring back the use of the platform for some, but also makes for a bad experience for potentially new subscribers and can be very damaging to the organization. In a time where internet outages can impact organizations to the tune of millions of dollars lost per hour, or more, the threat of attacks such as this is very real and should be carefully considered and planned for.”

I find it interesting that Deepseek is under attack given how much “noise” that they’ve made in the last few days. Ignoring the fact that no citizen of a western country should sign up for this service, it will be interesting to see if an how they recover, and how they defend against attacks like this in the future.

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EnGenius Technologies Unveils EnGenius Cloud Advisory Board to Streamline Advanced Feature Discovery and Best Practices

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 28, 2025 by itnerd

EnGenius Technologies, a leading provider of cutting-edge networking solutions, is proud to announce the launch of EnGenius Cloud Advisory Board, an innovative new feature within the EnGenius Cloud platform. Designed to empower Managed Service Providers (MSPs), system integrators, network engineers, and IT professionals, EnGenius Cloud Advisory Board is an innovated tool that simplifies the discovery of advanced features tailored to various industry verticals. With its focused recommendations and best practice guidelines, this addition redefines how users optimize network performance across sectors such as chain stores, business offices, hotels and resorts, student housing, senior living, and multi-family units.

Streamlining Feature Discovery

Navigating the diverse ecosystem of cloud networking features can be a demanding task for IT professionals striving to deliver scalable, secure, and efficient solutions. Recognizing this, EnGenius has developed the Cloud Advisory Board to function as a dedicated resource that eliminates the guesswork in locating features best suited for specific industries. The tool intelligently filters through EnGenius Cloud’s rich set of functionalities, directing users to solutions that optimize network operations in their unique environments.

Transforming Industry Verticals

The EnGenius Cloud Advisory Board offers tailored recommendations for a wide array of industries, ensuring network solutions are optimized for their distinct operational requirements. Key benefits include:

  • Efficient Decision-Making: Quick access to reliable, organized information allows for faster and more informed decisions, reducing time spent on research or consultations.
  • Enhanced Accuracy: By compiling data from credible sources and offering real-time updates, the database ensures that decisions are based on the most accurate and current information available.
  • Cost-Effective: An advisory database reduces the need for external consultancy services, saving businesses money while still providing expert insights and advice.

By aligning advanced features with industry’s best practices, EnGenius Cloud Advisory Board positions users to achieve superior operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and competitive edge.

Empowering Professionals with Best Practices

In addition to pinpointing advanced features, Cloud Advisory Board provides users with actionable insights and best practice guidelines for deploying EnGenius Cloud solutions in their respective industries. These expert recommendations cover critical areas, including network design, security, scalability, and performance optimization. As a result, IT professionals can confidently deploy tailored networking solutions that meet the highest standards of reliability and effectiveness.

Enhanced Value for MSPs, System Integrators, and IT Teams

EnGenius Cloud Advisory Board is particularly valuable for MSPs, system integrators, and IT teams who manage networks across diverse environments. By reducing the time spent on trial and error and simplifying the deployment of advanced features, the tool ensures these professionals can:

  • Deliver superior results to clients more efficiently.
  • Address industry-specific networking challenges with precision.
  • Keep pace with technological advancements in cloud networking.

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Guest Post: Only 6% of S&P 500 companies scored an A for their cybersecurity

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 28, 2025 by itnerd

ccording to the latest Cybernews Business Digital Index analysis, only 6% of S&P 500 companies achieved an A rating, while 89% of analyzed companies scored a D (almost 49%) and F (40%) for their cybersecurity efforts. 

The new analysis results reflect weak cybersecurity postures and show that most organizations haven’t raised their security standards. 

Detailed data collected from multiple sources, including IOT search engines, IP and Domain name reputation databases, and custom scanners, shows the digital security posture of S&P 500 companies.

Manufacturing and real estate industries are the most vulnerable

According to the Business Digital Index, which grades businesses based on their online security measures, the Manufacturing, Real Estate and Development industries have the weakest digital security. 

The biggest S&P 500 category is Manufacturing, with 138 companies on the list. 40% of the scored companies received a D rating, and 53% received an F rating. Only 3% of analyzed organizations earned an A rating for security measures. 

The second-biggest category on the list is Finance and Insurance. According to the analysis, 94% of companies analyzed received a security rating of D or worse, with 22% falling into the F category. 

A very similar situation exists with companies in the Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals category. Almost 10% of the companies analyzed in this category achieved an A grade. 52% of the healthcare sector scored D and 38% F. 

40% of Real Estate and Development category companies received D and 48% F scores. Most (48%) of Retail and Wholesale category companies were rated D, and 38.5% got an F

The report also shows that almost 86% of companies in the Energy and Natural Resources category analyzed scored a D or worse for their cybersecurity efforts.

The Technology and IT industry has the largest share of A-level security companies (almost 13%). However, 42% of analyzed Technology and IT category companies worldwide scored D, and 39% got a barely passing grade of F. 

Data breaches are one of the top issues 

Researchers found that the top three issues across industries are data breaches, secure sockets layer (SSL) configuration, and system hosting issues.

Even 96% of all analyzed companies had data breaches. This is an alarming systemic issue, with Real Estate and Development, Finance and Insurance, and Manufacturing leading the way in these incidents.

Nearly every S&P 500 company (almost 98%) suffers from poor SSL practices, reflecting weak encryption standards. 

Furthermore, 88.5% of companies have system hosting issues, and this problem is particularly prevalent in the Healthcare and Pharmaceuticals (97.6%) sector. 

The Manufacturing industry consistently ranks among the highest in vulnerabilities across all categories, particularly in software patching total vulnerabilities (63%), data breaches (97.8%), and SSL configuration issues (100%).

Meanwhile, the least affected industry is Real Estate and Development. This industry has lower incidence rates across categories, such as software patching critical vulnerabilities (16%) and web application security issues (48%).

Research Methodology

The Cybernews research team analyzed 485 companies on the S&P 500 list. Fifteen companies could not be analyzed to evaluate an organization’s cybersecurity posture. 

The report evaluates risk across seven key areas: software patching, web application security, email security, system reputation, SSL Configuration, system hosting, and data breach history. The report’s Methodology is here.

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Atomicwork Secures $25M in Series A Funding

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 28, 2025 by itnerd

Atomicwork, a leading innovator in agentic service management solutions for Enterprise IT, today announced that it has raised $25 million in their Series A funding round. The round was led by Khosla Ventures and Z47, with participation from Battery Ventures, Blume Ventures, and Peak XV Partners. This new infusion of capital accelerates Atomicwork’s mission to transform IT service management (ITSM) with its innovative AI-native platform that modernizes how businesses operate and drive growth.

A New Era for Enterprise IT Service Management

Today’s enterprises face a pivotal moment. As operations expand globally and digital systems multiply, traditional ITSM tools are reaching their limits. These legacy solutions – built for an earlier era of process management – can’t keep pace with modern business demands. 

CEOs and CIOs recognize the need for transformative change. The challenge isn’t just about managing IT anymore – it’s about empowering organizations to thrive in an increasingly dynamic digital landscape. 

Atomicwork’s agentic service management platform combines an enterprise knowledge graph with agentic AI to offload work from IT teams, allowing them to focus on driving business impact rather than managing everyday processes. By radically simplifying enterprise workflows, managing incidents in real-time, and enabling self-healing, Atomicwork is helping businesses stay ahead in today’s fast-moving digital business environment. 

Global businesses like Zuora and Pepper Money use Atomicwork to empower their teams with seamless service, intelligent automation, and actionable insights, driving productivity and transforming their digital workplace experience. 

Backing by Industry Leaders

The funding round comes on the heels of strong product adoption and backing from 40+ global CIOs, CTOs and industry veterans. 

Future growth and expansion

These Series A funds will be used to further scale and deploy Enterprise AI agents and invest in GTM expansion. The company plans to enhance its platform support for key enterprise integrations and ensure seamless scalability. 

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Hammerspace Achieves 10x Revenue Growth in 2024 Fueled by AI Storage and Hybrid Cloud Computing Demand

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 28, 2025 by itnerd

Hammerspace, the company orchestrating the next data cycle, today announced that it has achieved record-breaking 2024 results and business momentum with 10X revenue growth and a 32% increase in the number of customers for the full-year ended December 31, 2024. Hammerspace also posted strong customer retention and account expansion metrics while growing its leadership position in new geographies. The demands for high-performance data storage, global data access and the paradigm of an orchestrated data world are driving rapid adoption. 

Two seismic shifts are fueling unprecedented growth at Hammerspace and across the industry: the rising need for cost- and power-efficient infrastructure to support GPU computing at scale and the rapid adoption of hybrid cloud and multi-data center architectures.

With AI, Enterprise HPC and other data-intensive workloads increasing worldwide, Hammerspace unveiled its Tier 0 capabilities and MLPerf®1.0 benchmark results in November 2024. Tier 0, a new tier of ultra-fast shared storage that uses the local NVMe storage in GPU servers as shared storage, is gaining traction quickly. Designed to eliminate storage bottlenecks and maximize GPU performance, Tier 0 transforms GPU computing infrastructure by improving resource utilization and power efficiency while reducing AI storage costs.  
 

Exceptional Customer Retention and Growth Efficiency

Hammerspace posted notable customer satisfaction, retention and growth efficiency metrics, with Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) > 95%, reflecting strong customer satisfaction and retention strength, and Net Revenue Retention (NRR) > 330%, highlighting growth efficiency and the company’s ability to grow organically within its customer base. The outstanding GRR and NRR metrics are a testament to the demand for users to consolidate workloads and data into a single data platform, as well as the strength of the Hammerspace platform’s capabilities.

The company also expanded its workforce by 75% in 2024, with the most significant growth concentrated in its go-to-market and customer support teams.

2024 was a breakout year in market and use case expansion. Hammerspace customers now span markets ranging from hyperscalers and supercomputing to government, enterprise, and media and entertainment. A few notable new accounts in 2024 included Meta for Llama large language model training, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Department of Defense (DoD) for aggregating and analyzing research data, and Mathematic Studio for visual effects design in multiple global sites while completing production in France.
 

Meta’s engineering team said in its ‘Building Meta’s GenAI Infrastructure’ blog, “We have also partnered with Hammerspace to co-develop and land a parallel network file system (NFS) deployment to meet the developer experience requirements for this AI cluster. Among other benefits, Hammerspace enables engineers to perform interactive debugging for jobs using thousands of GPUs as code changes are immediately accessible to all nodes within the environment. When paired together, the combination of our Tectonic distributed storage solution and Hammerspace enable fast iteration velocity without compromising on scale.”

Industry Recognition

Hammerspace’s robust growth, leading technology innovation and market success have gained significant customer and industry-wide recognition, making it the most highly awarded unstructured data platform in 2024. Among its notable achievements in 2024 and recent accolades, the company’s awards and recognitions include:
 

Global and Management Team Expansion
Hammerspace has jump-started 2025 by expanding its global footprint and hiring Jeff Giannetti as Chief Revenue Officer to spearhead international growth. In January 2025, Hammerspace launched operations in Asia, establishing resources in China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and India. Hammerspace is currently scheduling meetings at the at the upcoming Supercomputing Japan in Tokyo on February 3-4, 2025.

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Leaseweb Boosts AI-focused Infrastructure Portfolio with Launch of New NVIDIA GPU Solutions

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 28, 2025 by itnerd

Leaseweb Global, a leading cloud services and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) provider, today announced a significant expansion of its processing solutions with the addition of NVIDIA L4, L40S and H100 NVL GPUs to its infrastructure portfolio. By offering powerful new NVIDIA GPUs at scale, Leaseweb is meeting the compute needs of a wide variety of sectors – including the Artificial Intelligence (AI), Media & Entertainment and Gaming industries – at a price point that enables significant cost savings when compared to the wider marketplace.  

Available across Leaseweb’s entire global network, spanning the European, North American and Asia Pacific regions, the expanded GPU offering supports customers with a scalable, efficient deployment framework optimized for high-performance computing (HPC), ranging from AI model training and video analytics to graphics processing and video rendering functionality. Leaseweb’s new NVIDIA GPU solution aims to help customers improve their operations, reduce costs, and enhance computational speed for demanding workloads. The announcement also underlines Leaseweb’s commitment to meeting the demand for powerful infrastructure solutions with industry benchmark performance chips that can be deployed within hours to ensure high availability service provision.

This marks the next step in Leaseweb’s journey to providing a complete AI offering for its customers, which will include integration into Leaseweb’s public cloud and broader set of infrastructure solutions. By providing a comprehensive, scalable solution for a wide variety of workloads, Leaseweb is reinforcing its position as a trusted partner for organizations focused on balancing price with performance and availability. With further plans to integrate this offering into its broader solutions suite, the company is strongly positioned to become a leading provider of GPU infrastructure, supporting customers as they invest in these transformational technologies.

For further information, please visit: https://www.leaseweb.com/en/products-services/dedicated-servers/gpu-server

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Trump Destroys America’s Cybersecurity Agenda

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 28, 2025 by itnerd

Over the past week, President Donald Trump repealed former President Joe Biden’s AI-focused executive order, issued in October 2023. The order had mandated that developers of advanced AI submit safety reports to the federal government. It also outlined plans for setting standards, revising procurement processes, and establishing the U.S. AI Safety Institute.

The new Trump administration also terminated all existing members of advisory committees that report to the Department of Homeland Security which includes members of CISA’s Cyber Safety Review Board (CSRB) in alignment with DHS’s “commitment to eliminating the ‘misuse of resources and ensuring that DHS activities prioritize our national security.”

The CSRB’s purpose has been to examine and assess cyber incidents and construct recommendations for improved security within private and public sectors, providing advise to the Secretary of Homeland Security and the President. At the time of dismissal, the board was apparently deep in the investigation of the Salt Typhoon hacking incident, the Chinese hacking campaign that penetrated telecommunications companies, spying on the calls and messages of US citizens.

Other advisory boards that have been dismantled include the Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board, Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council, National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee, National Infrastructure Advisory Council, and the USSS Cyber Investigations Advisory Board.

Dismissed members are welcome to submit reapplications for their posts.

Willy Leichter, CMO, AppSOC

  “As the Trump administration continues to throw wrenches into anything the Biden administration championed, there will inevitably be negative repercussions. This will delay or eliminate any proactive role for the US government in guiding AI technology. While you can argue that the private sector should drive this, the government has a legitimate role in issues around privacy and security. Gutting expertise and funding from federal agencies will inevitably put critical infrastructure, cyber security, and individual privacy at risk.”

Trump is putting the nation at risk. And this will come back to haunt the US sooner rather than later. There’s simply no other way to say it. You might want to remember that in four years time.

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Today Is Data Privacy Day

Posted in Commentary on January 28, 2025 by itnerd

January 28th is Data Privacy Day, an annual and international effort to raise awareness about the importance of data protection an privacy. Below, the following cybersecurity experts have provided the following insight about this important day and how crucial it is for people and organizations alike to protect their data. 

Paul Bischoff, Consumer Privacy Advocate at Comparitech: 

“Data privacy used to be about protecting your private information from hackers, criminals, and data brokers. Now we can add AI to that list. AI programs scrape as much data as they can from public sources to train their algorithms. As a result, personal info can be included in an AI’s response to a prompt, either intentionally or unintentionally. AI significantly reduces the barriers of finding and collecting information, making it easier for criminals to abuse personal data. I recommend disallowing search engines and other bots from scraping your social media accounts if it’s an option, and remove as much identifying personal information from your profiles as possible. Use a data removal service like Incogni or PrivacyBee to get your data out of the hands of data brokers.”

Chris Hauk, Consumer Privacy Champion at Pixel Privacy:

“It’s important for users to take control of their data privacy. I strongly recommend contacting data brokers to have your information removed from their servers. Data brokers are popular targets for hackers, putting all of the data (your data) on the brokers’ servers at risk. While it can be a time consuming process, it is worth it in the long run. If you are pressed for time, subscribe to a service like Incogni, who will contact the data brokers on your behalf, while keeping you informed of their progress.”

“AI is also a rising threat to data privacy. As the use of AI rises, so does the threat to customers’ data. Organizations must take steps to ensure that they put enough security in place that customer data is not inadvertently shared.”

“We continue to see misconfigured data buckets on cloud storage providers like AWS expose data to hackers. Several times, unprotected databases on AWS and other cloud providers have exposed customer and company data to the world, simply because the security protections are misconfigured. This has to stop.”

Carlos Aguilar Melchor, chief scientist, cybersecurity at SandboxAQ

“Privacy Day highlights the importance of safeguarding personal information and advancing secure systems in an increasingly interconnected world. We are seeing organizations across the globe push toward a Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) strategy, which underscores a shift to “never trust, always verify” principles, enhancing data security and resilience against cyber threats. Simultaneously, the ongoing transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) is crucial to future-proofing encryption against the potential risks posed by quantum computing, ensuring privacy and security in the digital age. We are proud to be contributing to these initiatives through cryptography modernization, and to reflect a proactive approach to evolving privacy challenges.”

Jimmy Astle, Senior Director of Detection Enablement at Red Canary:

The rise of generative AI has brought data privacy to the forefront of global conversations. These AI models, trained on vast amounts of internet-scraped data, have ignited concerns about consent and transparency. Questions are being asked about whether individuals and organizations should be informed if their data is being used in this way.

It’s clear our current privacy laws are struggling to keep pace with the evolution of technology. However, while generative AI adds complexity, it doesn’t eclipse existing data privacy concerns that we’re already grappling with. In fact, the most pressing challenges still stem from widespread data breaches and apps that exploit personal data for profit.

What GenAI has done though is introduce new dimensions to these existing challenges. For example, we’re seeing a rise in AI-driven SaaS tools that collect and process user data. Technology vendors are increasingly offering opt-out options for their AI features to safeguard user privacy, but this underscores a larger need for more clarity around how data is being used.

The path forward demands a balance of adaptability, transparency, and regulation. Organizations must take proactive steps to safeguard privacy, including clear communication around data practices and investment in privacy-preserving technologies. Regulators must also work closely with the technology industry to craft policies that protect individuals without hindering progress.

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Guest Post: Empower individuals to control their biometric data: the new challenge across all sectors

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 28, 2025 by itnerd

An opinion piece by Thomas Decker, VP Product Marketing Finance at Linxens

What if your face, fingerprint, or iris was your greatest vulnerability in a cyberattack? All those parts of you that are most unique and private are now embedded in our devices, workplaces, and airports, promising seamless access and enhanced security. But there is a dark side to this convenience: the fear of knowing where biometric data is stored and how it is used, and cybercriminals have seized on this. Attracted by these potential loopholes, they are questioning the security and integrity of our data storage. Trust in biometrics is being eroded as individuals worry that their sensitive information is being stored in cloud environments that are vulnerable to breaches and misuse. To address these concerns, the future of biometric access security needs to drive action for change on an economy-wide scale. 

Why the cloud is a concern  

The rise of cloud-based systems has accelerated the adoption of biometric solutions. By storing large amounts of data remotely, cloud platforms allow for scalability and easier system updates. However, high-profile data breaches and unauthorized access to personal information have fueled public skepticism. Deloitte’s 2023 ‘Customer data privacy and security’ survey found that 67% of consumers fear their biometric data could be misused if stored in the cloud, and this concern is particularly acute in regions with strict privacy laws, such as the European Union under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).  

Geopolitical tensions also increase the risks. Critical environments such as airports, military installations, and nuclear power plants cannot afford vulnerabilities in their access systems. In fact, they are a goldmine for hackers. They can intercept valuable biometric data and commit serious crimes such as rigging elections, spying on hostile nations, usurping identities, or sabotaging sensitive systems and areas.  These are irreversible actions with potentially dramatic consequences.

Moving to localized storage  

Biometric systems that prioritize edge computing offer a solution. Instead of sending data to the cloud, biometric information is processed and stored locally on secure devices or smart cards. These systems eliminate the need to transmit data over networks, dramatically reducing the risk of potential hacking.  

For example, smart cards embedded with biometric data allow users to authenticate their identity without needing to interact with the cloud. This decentralized approach enhances privacy as the data remains under the control of the user and is less likely to fall prey to cyber-attacks. It also complies with ethical and legal frameworks by giving users autonomy over their personal information.  

Strategically securing high priority environments  

Industries that handle sensitive materials or information – such as pharmaceuticals, energy, and defense – demand the highest levels of access security. Traditional access systems, such as swipe cards or PIN codes, are not enough to prevent unauthorized access. Biometrics offers a reliable alternative to the strategy adopted by these high-risk industries, but only if it is implemented without introducing new vulnerabilities.  

Some organizations have already deployed on-premises biometric solutions that process data in a closed environment, ensuring that sensitive information never leaves the facility. For example, nuclear power plants are increasingly using locally stored multimodal biometric systems (e.g. combining fingerprint and iris scans) to strengthen access controls. Similarly, the military and financial institutions are adopting innovative technologies such as the use of biometric smart cards: personal data is stored exclusively on the card itself, without recourse to the cloud or external servers. This not only reduces the risk of data leakage but also ensures strict compliance with the RGPD by guaranteeing secure, local management of personal data.

Challenges and the way forward

Despite its benefits, localized biometric security faces challenges, especially as local devices must be robust enough to prevent tampering and cyber intrusions.  

To overcome these hurdles, manufacturers are investing in advanced encryption techniques and tamper-resistant hardware. The use of biometric templates —mathematical representations of biometric data rather than raw images — also mitigates risks. These templates cannot be reverse engineered into the original data, further protecting users’ privacy.  

Looking ahead, biometric systems will need to balance convenience, security, and ethical responsibility. By moving away from cloud dependency, organizations can rebuild public trust while securing critical environments. 

Eventually, to fully realize the potential of localized biometric systems, the industry must come together to establish standards and best practices. This is not just a technological shift but an ethical and strategic imperative to rebuild trust and safeguard critical environments.

The future of access security lies not in centralized technologies such as the cloud, but in empowering individuals to control their own data. The question is not whether industries can adapt to this ethical evolution, but how quickly they will embrace this shift.

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Issues With Fitbit Devices Costs The Company A Measly $12 Million

Posted in Commentary with tags on January 27, 2025 by itnerd

You might recall that Fitbit had a bunch of devices that burned people a few years ago which forced a recall. Fast forward to today and those devices have cost Fitbit…. Wait for it….. $12 million:

Google-owned Fitbit has agreed to pay a $12.25 million civil penalty for failing to alert consumers that its Ionic smartwatches could overheat and cause burns, federal regulators said Thursday.

In addition to the $12.25 million civil penalty, the settlement agreement requires Fitbit to maintain internal controls and procedures designed to ensure compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), including enhancements made to its compliance program.

You know, that’s not a whole lot of money given that Fitbit is owned by Google and Google has more cash than some countries. This fine is pretty much a rounding error for them and won’t serve as any sort of deterrent as far as I am concerned. But then again, some punishment is better than nothing.

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